Liquid containment berms are used to prevent hazardous fluids from entering the environment from the spillage of the fluids during, for example, the loading and unloading of storage containers and transport vehicles, wash-down of equipment and vehicles, and repair/maintenance of equipment and vehicles. Conventional containment berms may be intended for permanent use, while others are designed to be portable.
One type of permanent containment berm is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,297, which is incorporated herein by reference. Such permanent berms are built from multiple elongated strips connected by corner pieces that are secured to a floor or ground by an adhesive such as caulking.
Examples of portable containment berms are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,316,175, 5,762,233, 6,092,686 and 6,880,720, which are incorporated herein by reference. Such portable berms have a floor and sidewalls made with flexible sheets of barrier material that allows the berms to be folded or rolled up for easy storage and transport. The flexible sidewalls may be held in their raised vertical positions by braces.